Former VW labor leader's ex-lover charged on bribes

BERLIN (Bloomberg) -- The former Brazilian lover of an ex-Volkswagen AG labor leader was charged for aiding in breach of trust over her role in a bribery scandal at Europe's largest carmaker.

Prosecutors said the 47-year-old woman received 350,000 euros ($457,000) under sham contracts between 2002 and 2005, according to an e-mailed statement Thursday from the Regional Court of Braunschweig, Germany. The trial for the woman, who wasn't identified by name, is scheduled to begin March 27.

The case is part of a probe over bribes paid to union leaders -- some in trips, luxury goods and the services of prostitutes -- in exchange for favorable votes on Volkswagen policy from 1995 through 2005. According to the statement, the woman is the former companion of Klaus Volkert, the former chief worker representative on VW's supervisory board who was convicted of accepting 2.6 million euros in benefits.

Volkert received the harshest sentence in the scandal so far, 2 years and 9 months in prison. Germany's Federal Court of Justice in 2009 upheld his conviction, making him the only person convicted in the case to serve jail time.

A Volkswagen spokesman, who declined to be identified, declined to comment.